The Left Hand Path
by Minako Miharu
Summary: Can Hermione discover who her shadowy love is in time to save him? SSHG.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:

This is a present for forthy, since it was her comment that inspired it. I have no claim or ownership of any of the characters herein, and I only hope that I have not bent them all fantastically out of character.

Part One: In which our heroine meets our hero.

It began in the dead of night her very first year at Hogwarts, her very own deepest secret that she would defend to the death if any were to somehow find out enough about it to confront her over it. She was a very strong and self-sufficient soul with the rarest vibrant intelligence that unfortunately many of her peers seemed to lack, a gifted student with a knack for knowing just what someone else had done wrong with a spell, potion, talisman or magical whatsis. It was just bitter coincidence of course that her strength led her to feel at times utterly inadequate and deeply insecure of herself as a person.

Unfortunately intelligence was not enough to make Hermione Granger many friends and twelve was an awkward enough age for any girl, let alone a magically gifted one. This fed her insecurity though she ever presented confidence no matter how false it felt to her heart, and she strove to be the very best academically. Sadly this often led to misunderstandings as she tried to help her fellow classmates and more hurtful things said behind her back – and worse.

But of all those things said only one made her cry on a regular basis, that horrid epithet of mudblood. She would never cry in front of those that called her this, she never wanted them to think that she was not proud of her muggle parents and heritage. But in the dark the tears would come and she had learned to cry very quietly so that none could hear her. At least so she thought, until she first heard his voice.

It was hesitant at first, the voice of a boy her age sounding soft and almost disused like the voice of someone speaking from inside a very dark well.

"They bullied you again today, I heard them. Don't cry, my Hermione. You're better than all of them, they'll see."

Don't cry, he'd said it like it was the simplest thing in the world and for once she felt her tears dry before her pillowcase was soaked. She whispered back into the dark and wondered for a moment if she was dreaming until she felt the skim of knuckles on her cheek to wipe away the moisture that still trailed there.

"It just makes me sad that they don't understand. I have so much I would help them with but they never ask. But I want to help so I try anyway, and then they hate me."

There was silence and for a moment she was afraid that he'd gone, not that she was sure he was there to begin with! Then he gave a slight sigh and in the dark she could sense that he shook his head just a little.

"If you ever need to cry go ahead, I promise I'll be here. But I have to go now, he watches me too closely for me to be out long."

This piqued her interest immensely and she hoped that it would not only be her tears that might draw him to her side so that she could ask him questions. Over the next week or so she let herself make notes of what questions exactly that she would most want him to answer and quite properly annoyed her fairly new friends Harry and Ron by not sharing her list with them no matter how much they pried.

It was _her_ list. She added to it, kept it close, and hoped he might visit without her being as upset as the last time but trust Draco Malfoy to ruin that opportunity to experiment! He was the most vicious of her bullies and while she had no trouble standing up to him to his face once she was alone the weight of his words never failed to make her cry. It was as if the pure-blooded wizard knew _exactly _what to say to hurt her worst.

Unlike the first time she had sobbed aloud once before clapping her hand over her mouth to muffle it and curled up on her side in misery. She didn't even feel him sit next to her, until he leaned over to brush her brown hair away from her face to whisper in her ear.

"It was Malfoy again. I'll fix him for making you cry Hermione. You'll see."

She didn't know how he knew about what had happened, though it was making her think that he must either be a student here like she was that was especially good at concealing himself or a ghost. But she desperately needed the comfort he offered as awkward and hesitant as it seemed, and she turned to curl against the shadowed form to finish her tears. She almost felt the surprise in him at this, the initial tension and then the relaxation as his fingers of shadow combed out her semi-tangled locks. She swallowed a sigh and then fought to get out one of her many questions for him. She was Hermione after all and how could she let it go?

"What's your name?"

She spoke in barely a whisper because she was almost afraid that he'd just leave for asking that question as it was the most important on her list. Just when she thought that he would leave her or simply stay silent he spoke.

"It's S … Tobias. My name is Tobias."

She wondered at his stutter but nodded and as he comforted her she finally relaxed enough to sleep, and in a sleepy voice told him that she rather liked Tobias. The sense of wonder she felt from him at that she would file away to think of later, but for now the fact that she had at least one ally just for her was enough.

No one was more surprised than she was at the events of the next day though she couldn't find fault with what happened. Draco had been mouthing off in class but unlike previous occasions the Professor of Potions Severus Snape leveled a dark gaze at the boy and told him in no uncertain terms that if he did not have something worthwhile and related to potions come out of his mouth in the next ten seconds that he would have a detention. The class nearly as a whole gawped at the uncharacteristic action; Snape was the head of Slytherin House and as such expected to back his fellow Slytherins.

Draco did not surprise the Professor with his failure though the Professor surprised the boy by actually enforcing his detention. If there was one thing that Snape despised more than someone defying him Hermione was certain _she_ didn't know what that one thing would be, and she did have to admit she got great personal satisfaction from watching Malfoy's comeuppance. She even managed a rather cheeky grin at the blonde boy on her way out of the class, and she didn't even care at that moment that she would most likely pay for it later.

Pay for it she did though she grudgingly had to commend Malfoy on his patience since it was years later that he struck back. It cost him a punch to the face of course but that was well worth it too though it meant that his actions against her would merely become more venomous. It had been months since she had seen Tobias but after she had been shaken by the hex so badly that day he appeared to her that night. His visits had become sporadic but no less treasured and his shadowy embrace soothed away her pains far better than anything Madame Pomfrey might have conjured up.

This time she let him draw her up into his lap and closed her eyes as she nestled under his chin, cataloguing his changes over the years as she always did. He had aged with her which made her believe that he was no ghost after all, though what or who he truly was remained uncertain. Part of her still believed that since he was no ghost and knew intimately what went on at Hogwarts that he must therefore be a student, but why had he never come forward to her? Was he afraid she would reject him? Did he have something against Harry or Ron?

So many questions, so few answers though he did upon occasion answer one or two from her beloved list. Yet she would often ask him to talk to her if only to hear the comforting sound of his voice, and sometimes she could almost catch a hint from his tones and inflections of who her Tobias might be during the day. But what boy could ever be so compassionate and dare she say loving towards her? He had never said a cross word to her in all the years he had come to hold her and wipe away her tears until soon after the Yule Ball that she had attended with Viktor Krum.

She and Ron had gotten into a vicious fight because it seemed that all along he had harbored some secret idea that he liked her. Yet he had never outwardly said so until Harry had implied that she had actually _kissed_ Viktor. She hadn't though Viktor had wanted to, he was handsome enough she supposed but the whole thing just hadn't seemed right. Examining this later she was almost aghast at her conclusion on why that was, though her inner revelation was set aside at the magnitude of what Ron said.

She could hardly believe it because not even Draco Malfoy had ever hurt her in the cutting fashion that Ron had. She hadn't kissed Viktor or anyone else but Ron wouldn't hear of it and Harry's words hadn't helped either. For once she actually cried in front of someone that could see her clearly and had to run away. Hermione felt heartbroken and betrayed by her friends because they wouldn't believe her when she told them the truth. She locked herself in her room until nightfall, skipping dinner in favor of a fitful nap. Some inner sense told her that Tobias was not coming and that caused Hermione to spiral lower in her upset and grief.

But that inner sense had been wrong after all she found, when she woke to feel herself pulled into his lap and cradled as gently as always. His voice was hitched this time as if he had been shedding his own tears and this alarmed her, but not as much as his words.

"If … if you don't want me to come to you anymore, I will stay away."

There was an underlying sense of loss to him that she could feel as his actions belied his words, his arms tightening around her even as he told her she could send him away.

"If you would prefer _his_ kiss I can't blame you. He watches me too closely and I can't be with you all I wish."

There was silence for a moment, his heartbeat in his chest loud to her ear where it pressed there. It came to her that he was cross, if not with her then with Ron or Viktor for being what he could not be. Hermione couldn't speak as the conclusion she came to earlier rose up in her again to overwhelm her good sense and cause her to do something that might just lead her into disaster. She shifted in his lap, her hands moving to run down his arms to his elbows, the lithe musculature evident to her touch as it was never to her eyes, his lean form shivering slightly as she did so, waiting for her pronouncement of his fate.

She tipped her head up to look at his shadowed profile, as always she could almost see his features but then she closed her eyes and brought up one hand, fingers so nimble in casting magic or stirring potions trembling as she let them run over his face. He had a lean face which would match his lean form, his nose seemed a bit large but not ridiculously so, and his cheek was smooth and pleasant under her fingertips. She gathered her conviction then as tightly as she could and dropped her fingers to his mouth, but only long enough so that when she raised her lips to his she wouldn't have the embarrassment of a miss.

His lips were a bit thin but supple and warm and parted just slightly as he gasped with surprise. Then he returned the surprise with one of his own by kissing her back, but this was not the kiss of a callow teen. There was sorrow and longing in that kiss, the passion of a man denied any comfort who was terrified that what little he had would be torn away. It shook Hermione to her core and reinforced what she had realized just that day. Tobias was not just her comforter, he was her first love. When the kiss broke as it must she clung to him and whispered in a stunned sort of voice.

"That was my first kiss, Tobias."

The sound that came from him then was that of an animal that had been wounded but then miraculously healed and his arms held her to him as if it would kill him to let her go. His lips pressed to her forehead and she heard the tears hidden in his voice as he thanked her. _Thanked her_, as if what she had given him was salvation and not a silly witch's first kiss. He told her she was his beautiful Hermione though that made her snort quietly; she was no one's vision of beauty though she felt after the Yule Ball that she was passable enough. But for the moment she let him say so and lay with him stretched next to her, his shadowed arm a weight over her waist as she drifted to sleep, the heartache of the day faded with the wonder of the night.

She was a Seventh year when he told her that he might not be able to be with her for much longer. Things were becoming too dangerous and he was afraid that his enemies would trace him back to her and kill her. He would have no reason to live then and he couldn't bear the thought of her being more hurt than she already had been just by being who she was and being friends with Harry. Hermione begged him not to go and told him what she felt, pleased gently when he held her and told her that her feelings were not unreturned. So she took a leap of faith and did what her heart told her to do, making sure that her first kiss was not the only first that she gave Tobias.

The next morning when she woke alone she should have felt a bit ashamed at what she had done, but she couldn't muster that up. For once her inner strength and her insecurity drowned each other out and she felt whole. She also felt a strong determination that she would find out what was keeping Tobias from her side and defeat it, and she believed that the first part of that would be to finally find out exactly who he was in the waking world.

AN: This is intended as a three part one shot.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer:

This is a present for forthy, since it was her comment that inspired it. I have no claim or ownership of any of the characters herein, and I only hope that I have not bent them all fantastically out of character.

Part Two: In which our heroine begins to discover the truth.

Obsession was not a word that Hermione dwelled on lightly for she had seen what it could do to other wizards and witches, her friend Harry Potter a prime example of this. His need and obsession to discover the truth- whatever that was- drove him to extremes that were at times dangerous for himself and those around him. What was worse was the idea that had grown in her that she must have known all along who her love Tobias was and yet had remained somehow blinded to it.

Perhaps what had been said to her about being a bit too literal and narrow-minded in her brilliance was also true. That hurt her a bit since it played into her insecurities quite nicely, though the person that had said it meant to try and help her she supposed. But it would explain how she could have overlooked something important over the years. She had started by scanning faces of all the Seventh years that she had known despite the seeming dead end this must after all be. She'd known them all so long, even the ones that despised her and bullied her like Draco, and none of them seemed to possess the combination of features that would create the profile and face she had touched but never seen illuminated.

It wasn't as if she hadn't had the idea to use her wand the next time she was visited but something held her back every time. That something was fear that should she improperly reveal him that he would vanish, or at least that was what she told herself. The truth was that Hermione was scared that he would be angry with her about it, since he was so reticent with details about himself. She also could not discount his words of warning that he was in dire danger and he feared she was as well just by his being with her.

The Gryffindor part of her had risen to this challenge. If she knew him revealed she would still love him and somehow she would save him. It was easier to let go of the fear by using her obsession as a tool and calling it research as well. When the search of faces failed as she knew it must she set about trying small enchantments to see if any of them perhaps hid their faces with a disguise spell or a very potent Polyjuice Potion even though again she had doubts about this method. After all that much Polyjuice would not be easy to come by and there would always be a risk of discovery.

Hermione still could not shake the nagging idea that she did already know Tobias, as fantastical as this sounded even to herself. She thought after her slew of enchantment tests failed that perhaps she could finally after all these years reveal her secret list to Harry or Ginny and enlist their aid, yet when she had started to approach Ginny on the subject her laughter and words had proven to be a harsh reminder of why she kept this secret. Ginny hadn't meant to hurt Hermione's feelings; despite her bit of a gulf still with Ron she considered them friends. But that was exactly what had happened even though Hermione herself wasn't sure just why she felt hurt.

Perhaps it was more that Ginny laughed at the idea of trying to find someone that in her estimation sounded as if he were no more handsome than the current Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Severus Snape. Hermione had paled and stammered at that comment and then waved off further questions on why she had wanted to know if Ginny had perhaps ever seen a boy of school age with the features she had felt with her fingertips so often. After the initial shock it had put Hermione in a bit of a snit too. To think that Ginny would revile her gentle Tobias that way, sight unseen!

To be fair though Hermione let herself grumble out her anger in private and decided that for Ginny it had been just a bit of a lark and nothing more. Surely if she met Tobias in the flesh and holding hands with Hermione she wouldn't care a whit if he were handsome or plain as long as her friend was happy! Her hurt feelings were thrust aside and Ginny forgiven while Hermione moved on to a new experiment. If Ginny had reacted badly surely Harry would as well and she could just hear the sharp comments he'd make if he thought she was searching for a young Snape. He absolutely hated him after all and doubtless would be just as thoughtlessly cruel if he thought Hermione might like someone who could resemble him.

Though it had opened up an interesting line of thought in her while she had been engaged in her current practice of closing her eyes in her classes just to listen carefully to all the boys speak. What if he was related somehow to the Professor? Surely the Prince family had many cousins whether they used the Prince surname or not. Several Pureblood families had after all died out in the male line while their blood carried on in the female so it was not so great a leap of logic to suppose this might be true.

But if he were her age and related to Snape, then why wasn't he openly a part of the Hogwarts student body? She felt sure that he was as magical as any wizard, the proof was there in his visits to her however infrequent they had become now. A slight smile had appeared while she thought about him, head slightly down and her eyes still closed. Perhaps he attended school elsewhere because Professor Snape knew that deep down Tobias would never be a Slytherin like he was? Perhaps that was it! Perhaps he was elsewhere because he was a good person – though that did not explain his uncanny knowledge of what went on at Hogwarts did it?

A sigh escaped her lips as she had become so lulled in her own thoughts and the voice of Professor Snape as he instructed the class on certain tell-tale clues of someone that might have knowledge of the Dark Arts that she missed the sudden pause of his deep and almost sonorous voice until he rapped lightly upon her desk to gain her attention. She startled even though she had not been asleep in the slightest and it made some of the students that disliked her to snicker behind their hands though that stopped with the almost cold look that the Professor shot at them from his narrowed eyes before he turned them back on Hermione.

She squirmed a bit at his total attention much to her embarrassment, nervous suddenly as a First Year as she looked up into his face. As she did so she gasped just a bit which took the Professor aback. Hermione had been in his classes for years, she was not some stranger witch to remark on his looks, so perhaps he truly _had_ startled her as badly as her jump in the seat indicated. Had she really been so enraptured by what she was thinking of that she had forgotten where she was? Her suddenly blush and aversion of gaze made that seem highly likely. A smirk seemed to lace his words then as he gave her a detention for inattention in class, after all that was the most unlikely offense that Hermione of all people could ever commit.

He did not notice how her brown eyes had locked to his form as he turned and walked back up to the head of the class with a near dramatic swish of his robes nor did he seem to notice a sudden dawning apprehension that settled on her face before Hermione schooled it back to a studious expression more normal to her features. It seemed that perhaps Hermione did owe Ginny a bit of apology because in that brief moment that she had locked her gaze with his another revelation had hit the witch with the force of a Quidditch bludger. If perhaps Professor Snape were her own age, he might very well indeed resemble Tobias!

The theory gained weight and solidity as she thought of even the Professor's voice. Of all the male voices she had been tuning in his _did_ hold some similarity no matter how slight it might be. But the differences there might just be what came with age and maturity. So perhaps the theory that they were related was not so far-fetched after all and Hermione had been close to the truth and never even known it! But how was it that her Tobias knew what happened day to day at Hogwarts? Was it a sophisticated sort of scrying spell? She pondered this while keeping her eyes forward to better seem to be listening to the lesson and not just the voice that gave it and Hermione noted something she had never noticed before.

Professor Snape's shadow was not quite in synch with the Professor's movements, and sometimes it was off a significant amount! Her lips parted and she knew she must have for a brief instant resembled a gasping fish though she was saved the indignity of a gasp this time. She forcibly shut her mouth despite her sudden near violent need to rise from the chair she sat in and go up to examine this new development when there was a knock on the door to the classroom. A sigh seemed to escape the Professor before he turned to answer it as if he should have just known he would be interrupted. After all a day in which Hermione Granger was not paying rabid attention to classwork was bound to be an off day all around for anyone.

Professor McGonagall was outside and Professor Snape stepped out into the hall to speak with her but had failed to totally close the door. Hermione was at this point so tuned to his voice that she could still hear him over the murmur of the other students who were glad of the Professor's absence no matter how brief. She had also gone a bit pale because while the Professor was out in the hallway his shadow had stayed on their side of the door! It was amazing and she burned with the want for knowledge of how he had done it. It would certainly explain how the Professor always seemed to know what was going on in his class without casting any sort of visible spell.

But it was not Snape's words that caused her to let out a startled low sound, it was Professor McGonagall who spoke those verbal daggers that made Hermione pale and ultimately slump in a faint at her desk. She had to have heard it before and simply never cared to remember it, it simply was not possible that she had gone to Hogwarts for seven years and never heard the full name of Professor Snape, wasn't it?

"Severus Tobias Snape don't you take that tone with me!"

His snide rejoinder suddenly died on his lips as _something_ abruptly filled the Professor with alarm and he whirled in place to slam the door to his classroom back open and lunge inside just as the students erupted with cries of _Hermione! Hermione collapsed!_ She had slid out from her seat to the floor none to gently it seemed as well, sprawled in a rather inelegant heap as other students rose to either assist her or jeer at her. He never noted how in the moments before he bent to lift her his shadow had rushed forward to engulf her protectively in such a fashion as it seemed to cling to her as he strode back out into the hallway with a curt hiss to Professor McGonagall to watch his class since she was so fond of interruptions.

He did not pause to examine the urge that led him to take the girl straight to Madame Pomfrey himself rather than delegate it as he well could have. The kindly woman had apparently stepped out of the clinic for something and with a frown he waved off the help of her assistant so that he could lay Hermione out on a pallet himself. The girl had a slight discoloration on her forehead that most likely had come from the desk top but he doubted that was what had caused her fainting spell though he couldn't have said exactly why he felt that way. He gazed at her a long moment before turning to sweep a curtain closed around where she lay and he left instructions with the assistant that she should be left alone to rest until Madame Pomfrey herself could examine her.

He didn't notice that as he swept out of the clinic with a slightly pensive scowl on his face that he cast not a length of shadow behind him. Not from the light that struck his form while he strode back down the hallway, nor even when he passed an open window which let more natural light bathe him a mere moment. But really who could blame the Professor for not noticing such a small detail, who after all honestly pays much attention to their own shadow? It was much like a reflection in a mirror, you never really thought about it unless you deliberately sought it out.

He sent Professor McGonagall back on her way with his reply to the Headmaster, and if his reply were a bit surlier than the norm even she was inclined to overlook it due to the circumstance. Minerva McGonagall favored Hermione Granger immensely and was worried about the young witch despite how close she was to being of age and graduation so it seemed natural to her that Snape would favor such an intelligent student over some of the more dunderheaded ones in his classes. As he sorted out the class for the final few minutes of it Professor Snape had the disquieting notion that there was far more to what had happened than he was aware of and that it would be wise on his part to find out just what if he could. The question was if he could get a Gryffindor like Hermione to trust him enough to talk candidly about it.

It seemed like she had been dreaming so when her eyes finally fluttered open Hermione thought that perhaps the day was over and this must be her own room, cool and dark even though the pallet she lay on was not as comfortable as her bed. This feeling of night was reinforced by a low and urgent voice in her ear and the warmth of love spread in her chest when she registered his words. It _must_ be night for here was her beloved Tobias who scooped her up against his lean chest and pressed his lips to her cheek before resting his own against hers.

"Hermione you scared me to death! Why did you pass out like that? I'm taking a terrible risk being here now but I couldn't just leave you alone. Pomfrey will be here soon, I don't know how long I have, but I'll stay until then."

Pomfrey? Was she in the clinic – oh she supposed now she must be, he did say she'd passed out after all. She paled again as it all struck her at once, Professor McGonagall's voice ringing in her ears. _Severus Tobias Snape. _It was simply impossible unless her theory that her Tobias was a relative of Snape's was a true one and he happened to be named after him or something. That could make sense! She felt his arms tighten around her as she'd paled and he rocked her slowly, and she realized he'd begged her to tell him what was wrong.

"Tobias. Tobias you've never told me what your full name is and I think I know why."

He froze, wrapped around her as he was and she thought she heard an almost undetectable keening sound coming from his throat until she slipped her arms around him and this time the comfort would come from her to him. She let her clever hands stroke down his back and she nestled trustingly to his chest as she always had.

"You think I care that you're related to Professor Snape, don't you? Well, I don't Tobias! You can't pick your family any more than the rest of us."

He shuddered in her arms and she could feel wetness against her cheek where he'd moved his own against hers again. His voice was almost jagged though still tender with her and she sensed his sadness and a sudden fear of loss rose up inside of her. Had she made a mistake with her declaration?

"Hermione, my own Hermione. You think I'm _related _to Professor Snape."

There was a noise outside where she lay that signaled the return of Madame Pomfrey and in a panic Hermione's arms tightened around Tobias' shadowy form. The risk he must have taken to be here loomed up inside her then because it was daytime and he was holding her and he'd never ever done that before. She felt his lips on her cheek, her forehead and finally her mouth and there was a bittersweet feel to his affection that made her heart beat faster. Before she could speak she begged him with all her heart, her words soft and designed to plunge into his own like swift little arrows.

"I know you have to leave, but please if you love me, see me tonight. I've never asked you to before … but I need to know I haven't just lost you."

That she cared enough to beg him seemed to astound him and his gentle touch was there, stroking her hair back from where the bruise was slowly appearing on her pale skin. She saw him nod slowly, his shadowy profile as it always was and then he dipped to kiss her a final time. She barely had enough presence of mind to lie back down as her curtain began to draw back and for the first time she saw how he simply melted away like a shadow does when the light is too bright. That thought pierced her and she began to think of how Professor Snape's own shadow had behaved so oddly just moments before her collapse only to be sidetracked by the bustle and well meaning care of Madame Pomfrey.

She felt now more than ever that she was on the verge of a great discovery, that she truly had all the pieces of the puzzle laid out before her if she could just see the pattern. She prayed that tonight he would indeed come to her side and answer her questions because she had also begun to have an inkling that he was not only related to Professor Snape but perhaps magically bound or cursed as well! The how and why of this escaped her for the moment but as sure as she was Hermione Granger she would not let this mystery go until she had resolved it once and for all. Too much was at stake here for her to give up now.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer:

This is a present for forthy, since it was her comment that inspired it. I have no claim or ownership of any of the characters herein, and I only hope that I have not bent them all fantastically out of character.

Part Three: In which our Hero is finally discovered and our Heroine …

Hermione had never been so nervous in her entire life. Not even the tedious wait for test results or wondering what her rankings were compared to her classmates could compare to this feeling of butterflies as she thought about what she hoped might happen tonight. When she had finally been released from the clinic she'd actually refrained from returning to class, unable to shake the nerves or the feeling that things were never going to be the same.

She was right but not in the way she had expected at all, and the Headmaster of Hogwarts had been killed on top of everything else. Tobias had come to her just when she had been afraid that he would not but he only stayed long enough to tell her that he loved her no matter what and that he prayed that somehow she could forgive him for what would happen next. The warmth of his kiss lingered longer than his actual presence had and it was the only comfort Hermione had for literally weeks.

The world did not often turn itself upside down after all, not even the world of magic. So many accusations and threats had been thrown around that she was surprised that the air was not blue with them. Grief had nearly overwhelmed the remaining staff at Hogwarts and with Harry's declaration it was Professor Snape who had been accused of the crime. Now Hermione did not doubt her friend at his word and he was clearly devastated by what he had seen, but to Hermione something did not ring right.

She had gotten a message from the Professor that he had wanted to speak with her about what had happened in his class that day. Would he have done such a thing were he plotting the demise of the revered Headmaster? All logic told her that he would never have bothered, not unless he had wanted to use her as an alibi but what good could that have done against the other methods that could procure the truth? True it was that the Professor was most skilled in shielding his thoughts from others, but even that vaunted ability could be overmastered if one knew how.

What was sure in it all was that Albus Dumbledore was dead and Severus Snape was gone after leading the Death Eaters out of the fray. Still Hermione's mind would not let it go and it had caused an argument with Harry to her regret. She'd asked him almost flatly after listening to his ranting against Snape for what seemed like hours that if he truly wanted to devastate the magical world why not kill Harry as well? From what had told her Snape had cuttingly averted all his wild attacks and strangely enough called off another Death Eater in the process with a reminder of Voldemort's will.

There was nothing Hermione disliked more than the taste of "why" in her mouth and it made her a bit reckless in her arguing and she regretted that last sentence for days. Yet the idea of it haunted her, that there was far more in the background than anyone had uncovered and perhaps the only one that could answer those questions would be the very subject Snape himself. It didn't help her mood any that Harry had refused to speak with her since then and there had been no sign of Tobias either.

"_Please Hermione; remember that I love you no matter what happens."_

It was the please that haunted her most even while she cherished that he had actually told her again that he loved her. Please, as if he were afraid that somehow she would forget that she had been the first to tell him that she loved him. All she had been able to answer his plea with was a yes and the sincerity of her kiss and now she wished that she could have said more but there simply had not been the time. Haunted by his plea and the cold feeling in the pit of her belly as she thought of a few things she took to her room and came out for meals and little else.

The feeling that she was on the verge of discovering the truth had a hold of her now and would not let go and for once she was grateful for the near single minded intensity that could take her when she was truly enthralled with something. She wrote down everything she could think of on papers that she spread out on her desk, her bed, the floor, no surface was sacred as she did so. The key to her dilemma was here and she would find it out the way Crookshanks might find out a hidden mouse even if it killed her.

Somehow she knew that Tobias was depending on her and she refused to fail him. Not that it was in her nature to fail, her intelligence being such that if she could get past her own flaws she was sure to succeed. But this she felt was the most important venture of her life, because everything that would come after hinged on how fast she could come up with her result. So over the next two weeks she winnowed down all she had written to what she considered the most important and finally she was looking down at the results of her intense study.

Of what was left two things stood out to her in bold relief compared to the rest. _Tobias must be related to Professor Snape _and _Professor Snape's shadow moves on its own._ One hand rested on each note and she suddenly felt her pulse begin to race as she thought of how Tobias had reacted when she told him that she didn't care that he was related to the dark minded Professor. Oh Merlin was it possible? How could it be possible? How could it be that her own Tobias who had never failed to comfort her and who understood what it meant to be an outcast among their peers was also Professor Snape? It had to be true because it was all that was left.

Somehow the Professor's shadow had gained a life and heart of its own. A heart that loved her so much that it caused him to risk his existence just to be with her and be what she needed him to be. It was a true risk because obviously had the Professor been aware of his shadow gaining its own life he would have put a stop to it. It all made sense now to Hermione. He is watching. I am not safe. This is a risk for both of us. Her hands were shaking as she raised them up and crumpled her notes into tight balls and threw them across her bedchamber and she screamed, more to release the tension that coiled in her belly than anything else.

Afterwards she fell back across her bed and simply breathed in and out while she contemplated the fact that despite the depth of her discovery that it had changed absolutely nothing. She still loved Tobias/Snape with all her heart and now she had to figure out a way to save them both. No one that could have as a part of them someone so caring and gentle could have murdered a person that trusted them like Dumbledore had Snape. So it simply meant that there was a story behind this that none of them yet saw and that was all there was to it.

She doubted sincerely that she could count on either Harry's help or Ron's, Harry still wasn't speaking to her after their row and Ron really hadn't spoken with her since that horrible scene in which he'd accused her over Viktor. She was alone in this and she desperately wished that she could ask someone for help, but there was really no one she trusted enough with the truth - no one save the person that she was trying to save that is. She would have given anything for the power to call him to her side and keep him there but she knew if that were possible he would never have left her alone.

There must be something that kept him tethered to the Professor that was tied to him originally being his shadow, and that was what she had to figure out first. Would it be possible for him to live on his own? Could he exist without having to leave to stand at Snape's side? For the sake of her love Hermione did something she rarely did and put aside her pride and apologized first to Harry and then to Ron who had gotten thick as thieves once more with The Boy That Lived in her absence. She then began to carefully assert her theory that there must be more to the story of how the Headmaster had died than it seemed on the surface.

Unfortunately for Hermione she had not been either careful or subtle enough and before she could add in her discoveries about the being that was tied to Professor Snape they had dissolved into arguing again. Neither boy would listen to her after that nor had Hermione ever felt so alone in her life. She even contemplated packing up her things and leaving Hogwarts to set out after Professor Snape on her own but the fear that Tobias might come seeking her and not be able to find her squashed that before she had begun. So she sought out tomes to help her in her research and hoped with all her heart she could find something that might end up helping him.

Her search proved fruitless and frustrating though she would occasionally catch a glimmer of an idea. Like a word on the tip of the tongue that would not make itself clear she felt that she was so very close but still missing the one thing that would illuminate her enough to succeed. Stuck in her research she missed much of what was going on in the outside world until it came to break in the door of Hogwarts so to speak. It appeared that Harry had been on a mission set for him by the deceased Headmaster to find and destroy the Horcruxes that Lord Voldemort had created in order to cheat death and that she had never even been given the chance to help him.

An indelicate snort escaped her lips because she knew without a doubt that with her aid he could have gotten them all much faster. Too late now as Voldemort's forces were besieging the school and it would soon be the moment that encompassed Harry's destiny. Either way she set aside her hurt feelings from their latest argument and when Harry needed her most Hermione was at his side. But it was all she could do to keep her screaming inside because she had had to stay hidden while Professor Snape had died at the hands of his seeming liege who killed him to become the true master of the wand he had stolen from Dumbledore's tomb.

She wanted to scream and sob but kept her jaw set despite how suspiciously teary her eyes were, and when Voldemort left to deliver his message of doom demanding that Harry be turned over to him she rushed with Harry and Ron to Snape's side. They managed to capture his last memories, the message that he wanted so desperately to give Harry. But his dark eyes had locked on to Hermione's as he breathed his last and she thought she heard him whisper to believe. Believe in what? Everything must be over now, how could a shadow live without the form that gave it shape?

Harry used a pensieve to view the Professor's memories and he had emerged pale and shaken to his core. He told her and Ron that Hermione had somehow been right, that Dumbledore had been the one to have Snape kill him. He stuttered a bit when he spoke of the sad childhood scenes that had been there as well, and how much Snape had really loved his mother Lily Evans. He hated Snape but he was a fair soul and he knew that he had been deeply wrong about him on this and now gave the man the respect he deserved. If he yet lived he might not have been man enough to do so, but with him dead Harry felt that he had not only earned it but deserved it.

Hermione let Ron and Harry leave ahead of her and promised to hurry on after back to the school for the final confrontation. But as soon as the boys had vacated the shack she fell to her knees by the corpse of the Professor and grabbed his cooling hand with a sharp cry of grief. She knew that somehow she had been close to finding out what was needed of her but it was too late. Her tears would not stop as she babbled out that she was sorry she had failed him and at first she did not feel the whisper touch of a hand on her cheek. When it became firmer, the touch of familiar fingers to brush away her tears, she cried out with the worst of her pain coloring her words.

"I didn't save you! How can you be alive without Severus?"

"Tell me now Hermione. Tell me what you would give to save me."

His voice was nearly a whisper, the same level it had been all those years ago when he had first come to her as the magic that made him began to fade. She turned and clutched him desperately and told him that if she had it to give she would give it. She would give everything she had for him including her own life if that was what was needed because she surely could not live without him as anything more than an empty shell of herself. Tears blinding her she dashed her wrist across her eyes to clear them and blinked as tear wet lashes framed what she saw.

Professor Snape's body was glowing but she found she could not release his hand even when Tobias screamed out and the support of his arms wavered. Light was always the anathema of shadows after all and Hermione heard a voice shouting stop over and over that she discovered belonged to her. It wasn't fair, didn't whoever that was doing this hear her? She would give anything to save her love and she had meant it utterly. She screwed her eyes closed because the light grew brighter and she was terrified that she would have to see Tobias vanish from her forever.

Finally the screaming from both of them just stopped and the only sound Hermione could hear was her own harsh breathing and the sound of her tears as they hit the floor. It was over now and she knew it. Her failure loomed large and she began to hope that she could be in the final battle against Voldemort so the chance she might be with Tobias soon would grow. She collapsed to her side and curled up with her knees tight to her chest, she knew she would have to get up soon and go on but right now she wanted to let the despair have her just to get it out of the way.

It wasn't right that he was gone. She kept her eyes closed even as her tears trickled to a stop and she kept them closed as she felt someone pull her into their lap. _Harry_, she thought, _Harry or Ron came back and found me and how will I explain this? _They would never understand and think she was simply a wreck because Snape had died and it wouldn't be pretty even if she did somehow make them understand. There was no way that they would understand why she had hidden Tobias from them at the very least. But this was Hermione Granger and she was no coward, and finally she opened her eyes and turned to look up at the face of the one that had brought her up off the cold floor.

She had seen the features thousands of times but she had never seen them so young or with such a soft concerned expression. It made those snapping dark eyes seem warmer and the gentleness made him handsome where the sharp sarcasm had always made him seem sallow. His dark hair was soft under her fingertips and his skin felt like it always had when she could only see him in shadow. It simply was not possible that he was here in flesh but she had to believe the proof of her eyes. This was a world of magic after all and she swore that someday she would figure out how it happened. But for now a cry of joy came from her and she threw her arms around his neck and held him tight.

That he was naked did not surprise her nearly as much as his actually being there and she found it did not bother her. She liked being able to see his body after all these years, but now was not the time to dwell on that aspect. When he stood with her she kissed him and caught him up on what was going on over at Hogwarts. They found him some clothing before he bent down and gazed at the still form of Professor Snape, his hand taking up the wand and slipping it into his pocket. That answered one of Hermione's questions and it was no surprise that the wand appeared to accept him immediately.

His steps as they left were hesitant at first as if perhaps he was still uncertain if he could leave the place freely, but soon he gained confidence and took Hermione's hand as they went to join the fight as best they could. They fought together and defended each other in the battles with the Death Eaters and stood side by side when Voldemort forced Hagrid to bring Harry's "corpse" down to dishearten them all. But The Boy Who Lived had not had his final curtain call after all and in the end it was Voldemort who died. She watched with shining eyes as Harry told the truth of what had happened with Professor Snape, exonerating him of Dumbledore's death and she applauded his bravery in the confession as Tobias slipped his arm around her.

When Ron had come up to them and sputtered about it, wanting to know just who this boy with her was and what he thought he was doing holding her she had to rein in her laughter as he'd straightened to his full and rather imposing height and looked down his nose as he'd proudly proclaimed his name.

"I am Tobias Severus Snape and I'll hold the woman I love all I want Ronald Weasley."

Questions there would be aplenty later and it was sure that the uproar created by the pronouncement of his name would continue for days if not weeks. But right now that didn't matter to Hermione and she gave a happy laugh as she turned in his arms to hold him tight. She would unravel the mystery that had given her the greatest gift of her life one day perhaps, but that would be later for sure. She was Hermione and she would find out how love, shadow, and soul had come to possess flesh of its own but for now things were good enough as they were.

AN: I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did writing it!


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